hankyoreh

Chung Ui-hwa

National Assembly speaker Chung Ui-hwa has been in the news for his recent denunciation of the Saenuri Party’s nominations for the Apr. 13 general elections as “the destruction of party democracy” and his declaration that he is interested in creating a new political body.

Chung is a politician who is regarded as one of the best examples of a “wholesome conservative.” To be sure, he has made no small number of disappointing decisions - such as using his authority to bring the Anti-Terror Act to a vote in the National Assembly - but looking at his overall character, he is a rare example of a reasonable politician inside the ruling Saenuri Party. Most importantly, he is the head of the legislative branch - one of the three branches of government.

We can’t help but pay attention when the speaker of the National Assembly describes the party that is in power as a “hopeless party” just before the general election, when the lawmakers of the National Assembly are to be elected.

Chung’s decision to cast such a harsh judgment on the Saenuri Party is probably not only due to his disappointment over the results of the party nominations. It would be more appropriate to regard this as the consequence of pent-up frustration about how President Park Geun-hye and her allies in the party have continued to pressure Chung, ignore the National Assembly and overstep their authority.

Furthermore, as the party’s nominations have shown, it is clear that the disrespect of representative democracy, the destruction of party democracy and the damage to the rule of law by the bulk of the Saenuri Party are going to get even worse.

Circumstances such as these were what brought the speaker of the National Assembly to warn that the country is in trouble with the Saenuri Party in its current state and to announce that he will not return to the party when his term as speaker is over.

Another interesting question is whether the “new political entity” mentioned by Chung will become a reality. To be sure, the very nature of the ruling party means that it would not be easy for a new conservative party to emerge.

But in its current state, it would be hard to call the Saenuri Party a normal political party. The party has called a temporary ceasefire to its internal squabbling before the parliamentary election, but the discord in the party has already passed the tipping point.

During the turmoil in the party after the elections, there is no reason why Rep. Yoo Seung-min and other politicians forced out of the party could not combine with Chung to create a new political party. Its disruptive power would be considerable. It is no coincidence that Saenuri Party Floor Leader Won Yu-cheol said that any former Saenuri lawmakers who are elected as independents will not be allowed to return to the party.

At any rate, with the political situation in flux, it seems clear that Chung‘s remarks are significant indeed.

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